Tomorrow, 13 August, is election day in Zambia! Like elections in most parts of the world,
emotions are high, expectations are higher and enthusiasm is over the moon!
Politicians have been making promises that most people realise cannot be kept, but voters hear
what they want to hear and seldom remember the promises of five years ago when the same
promises were made and, generally, ignored within days (or hours) of the elections results
being made public.
Zambia's total population is estimated at approximately 22.5 million people and about 8.86
million are registered to vote. Women make up 4,665,431 registered voters, compared with
4,120,869 men. In other words, women account for slightly more than half of the registered
electorate. How many will actually vote? That is like asking how long is a piece of string!
The election will be spread across 10 provinces, 116 districts, 226 constituencies, 1,858 wards
and 13,529 polling stations. That is a lot of ballot papers, polling officers, queues, ink and,
presumably, somebody somewhere asking, “Where is my voter’s card?”
Yes, you need a proper government issued ID card and a voter’s registration card to vote in
Zambia!
In years past there have been cases of sporadic violence in some of the larger urban centres,
but Luanshya has been mostly quiet on election day. Our prayer is that this will remain the case
in 2026!
Nevertheless, we would ask for your prayers during this time. The current ruling party has been
successful in developmental projects. Corruption remains a major challenge in Zambia,
impacting public finances, service delivery, and economic growth. Transparency International's
Corruption Perceptions Index scored Zambia at 37 out of 100, ranking it 99th globally. The
mining sector, public procurement, and political influence continue to face high corruption
risks. As bad as this sounds, it is an improvement from five years ago!
As always, we continue to be...
Together in His Service,
